Hello!
I have been lurking for just a short time. I too am a book lover and am running out of space to store them!
For Christmas, we planned to get a tablet/ereader for my sister, my niece, my mom, and me. I actually am typing on an iPad, but this is for work (owned by the school system) so I can't really use it for my library.
My sister found the Cruz at a good price and ordered four. Then my brother bought my mom the pan digital.
Ok, so now we have to return one. But is the Cruz the best deal ($150)? Or should we all go for the pan digital? Or another one?
Another one I have looked at is the x5A droid someone recommended.
Any help would be appreciated!
Rachael

I also have been lurking for a while on this site. I was considering the Nook color but decided on the Archos 70 internet table. I've only had it for a couple of days, but I really like it as a reader (I have been reading on an IPod touch), using the Nook android ereader app. The Nook color has better resolution than the Archos (although I haven't compared them side to side), but the Archos is lighter (11 oz. vs 15.8 oz) which is important to me. The archos is also more of a general purpose tablet with its own app library and with the Android Marketplace being available with a hack. Also, Android 2.2 is now available for the Archos.

The Archos 70 is a little more expensive. I paid $300 with tax and shipping, but I think that its worth it. Its also really hard to get since it sells out quickly on online sites, but it is listed on Amazon now.

Based on Darrell's post above, I did a little surfing on the Archos 70. I must say that it looks VERY impressive. The only thing I'd like to see on it is GPS. I don't need 3G, as I have an HTC EVO 4G phone with Mobile Hotspot, so I have WiFi available nearly everywhere.

I've been thinking about a G-Tab, but the price without contract is somewhat exorbitant. This little French gadget seems to have everything I'd want in a G-Tab except GPS, and at less than half the price.

The Archos 70 looked almost perfect to me, but then I found the unfortunate dealbreaker -- software buttons. In most pictures they look like they're capacitive buttons on the bezel, like on a Galaxy Tab. They're not. They're built into the shell that Archos uses, and as such waste screen space, aren't 100% available (not sure how you get to them in full-screen games, for example), and would break if you ever wanted to change your shell/launcher. So, no deal. This is sad, because otherwise the Archos 70 looks like a very compelling alternative to the G Tab at half the price and without any data plan shenanigans.

The buttons actually aren't part of the shell and in fact change position as you rotate the device. I find them convenient to use. They certainly work well with the Nook app. There is a lot more discussion about these buttons on the Archos fans forum.

A nice feature on the Pocketbook IQ are hardware buttons for menu, home, and back. I really like this device even though it's almost the same as the PanDigital White Novel. The hardware buttons are the main difference.

Can a word processing app be used on it? Can it use an external keyboard?
Thanks!
Rachael

Quickoffice is an Android office suite compatible with MS Office, it sells on the Market for $9.99 USD. Since the Arcos doesn't have native Market, I'm not sure what hoops you'd need to jump through to get it, but I'm sure it's doable.

As to external keyboards, I don't know for sure, but probably. I'm told that this one will work, but since I haven't tried it ...

Quickoffice is an Android office suite compatible with MS Office, it sells on the Market for $9.99 USD. Since the Arcos doesn't have native Market, I'm not sure what hoops you'd need to jump through to get it, but I'm sure it's doable.

As to external keyboards, I don't know for sure, but probably. I'm told that this one will work, but since I haven't tried it ...

It will not work on the IQ, it (the IQ) has no Bluetooth, no mic. no gps, no camera.. Still a nice tablet though! After the Firmware update also more responsive

It will not work on the IQ, it (the IQ) has no Bluetooth, no mic. no gps, no camera.. Still a nice tablet though! After the Firmware update also more responsive

Sorry to butt in, but your reply is a bit ambiguous for those of us for whom English is not a native language, so I'd like to clarify:

If you meant that QuickOffice will not work on the IQ, that's not true. I bought myself an IQ recently because I'm a university professor and was getting sick of carrying around stacks of handouts, exams, and my 15" laptop when there were very few things I actually needed a laptop for. I downloaded the QuickOffice app, tested it for a few days and since it worked fine for what I needed (entering student attendance in an Excel sheet, keeping track of what lesson points I needed to cover in class) I purchased the full version. I am very satisfied with both the device and the app.

If you meant that the Market doesn't work on the IQ, well, that's true, but it is not difficult to find the apk files online. Dulins's Books has built a repository of Android apps for the IQ, and there's another website where Android reader apps can be found, but I can't remember what it is at the moment. I recommend checking the Pocketbook forum.

...and I should learn not to reply when I-m in a hurry.I totally missed that your reply might actually be about the keyboard, Y/Y?

Last edited by citac; 12-09-2010 at 07:10 AM.
Reason: fail at comprehension